One Breed - Page 6

 

 

 

@ Mac you can find  some interviews from Dirk vandecasteele  on the  net  its alway  interesting  hear opinions  from  breeders

from a different  breed and knowledge  about working dogs

 

joanro - Nowhere do I say all Americans. I may say many, or, so many but never all.

Clearly the USA has big problems with the breed and some of the people and what I have written is, for me, the way things come across from the posts on here. You have read on this forum how vitriolic and sarcastic some of the US posters have been towards other people. I also note that when some of the US posters write on here about themselves, their dogs and what they do with them and then another poster asks fair and reasonable questions about that post then quite often there is no response. As for the American show lines I would not want to use them at all.

As for Xeph or anyone else wanting to take over my dogs I have to say now that I do not live in either the UK or the EU and nobody is taking over my dogs. Also, although I follow the breed I do not breed dogs any longer but when I did all of my dogs had 100% German Lines and as a member of the SV for many years I followed their rules. I only keep two dogs now. The male is eleven years old and sired by Bax v d Luisenstrasse and the female is nearly seven years old sired by Vimo v Regina Pacis out of Lailana v Kirschental 2 times HGH Siegerin. I also think that you and other readers will realize by now that I do have a little experience of the breed and the people in it.


Mackenzie

Xeph isn't interested in taking over anybody else's dogs. I'm only interested in breeding the best dog I can.

I personally don't think the "true" GSD exists anymore. Not as a whole. It's very hard to find.

Extreme drives, extreme angles, extreme head pieces.

Everybody has played a part in the downfall. At this point I'm satisfied breeding animals that can paricipate in multiple venues as the owners choose and aren't afraid of their own shadows

If  I.m correct  the original GSD was not  breed for the extreme, but solid and in balance wo can do variety kind of jobs today we
see   a  exreme change in anatomy and not every GSD have enough charactar,drives-temper -hardness  to work , and  a lot of original instincts are lost. Modernization of the society is one reason

 The  major of the GSD today  are pet this is the biggest market

The truth is, breeders breed what they want. They generally breed for whatever sport/venue they enjoy and they don’t want to admit or even make the connection that due the fact their dogs do one venue, they might not be capable of doing another. Our breed has historically had a “breed test.” Dogs that accomplish that breed test and are bred, tend to produce dogs that are capable of doing a variety of the other working venues. But you have breeders that don’t care for that venue, they do a lower level, less difficult venue, and then sell their dogs to people that compete in that venue. Unfortunately, and I’ve seen this many times, when people try to take those dogs and move them up a level to a more difficult venue…the dogs fail, the people are upset, the people leave dog sport all together. Breeder really isn’t affected by that because it happens rarely because as it was pointed out, most puppies go to pet homes to never be heard from again. Yes, this is a working breed, but due to a change in society and the world as a whole, it has become a pet (like all dogs). This leads to a watering down of a breed in order for it to “survive” and be able to live in a pet home.

I’ve left shows out of this discussion because in my opinion that is a highly subjective venue while working venues tend to be much more objective. Those other venues also do reward the ability and skill of the trainer, but the fact remains that there isn’t a single trainer that can turn a turd into a gold brick. People that have trained in venues which require the dog’s instincts and natural ability understand that much more than those that have only done the variety of “all-breed” venues which don’t require much natural ability to pass.

I really don’t care to close the division. I have my dogs, they have their dogs. I will always be able to find or produce the type of dog I like or need and the last thing I need is the addition of what I consider lesser genetics just to appease other people or create a more unified breed. The dual line thing exists in basically every other working breed out there, there’s no changing it.

@Bavarian Wagon, very good post that succinctly assesses the situation. In your first sentence I always substitute "likes" for want. Either way, though I hate the divisions in lines, it is what you wrote and I pretty much have adopted the same solution that you speak of in past thirty years. I can find great dogs and have gotten many people some very nice dogs, but I am fortunate enough to know what to stay away from.